Gradient Stripes Baby Blanket

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This is a pattern that has been on my idea list for a long time. I once saw an ad for a pattern from a yarn company that was a striped blanket made out of alternating stripes of 2 colors, but they used multiple shades of each color, so if every other stripe was pink some were a darker pink, some a lighter pink, while the other stripes may have been blue, with some darker, some lighter, and others in between. They were not necessarily in any order, like dark to light, just random from what I remember, and the blanket was knit, not crochet. And they definitely used multiple skeins of different shades of each color, not one ombre or gradient skein, but it gave me an idea.

I wondered if it would be possible to create a similar effect using a gradient or ombre yarn, and also crocheting it rather than knitting. I actually started a blanket probably a year ago with different yarn and it was working pretty well but there were some things that weren't exactly what I had envisioned. Then I happened to see some Lion Brand Mandala Gradient yarn at Walmart one day and I was reminded of that project. I thought this yarn might work a little bit better than the yarns I had tried previously because it is a very slow gradient color change, which was exactly what I needed for this pattern. 

These cakes are wound with the lightest color in the center and they get darker as they go to the outside. I started with the center and the lightest color and worked to the darkest, then when I had to join a new cake of yarn I worked the opposite way, from the outside in- dark to light. The whole blanket is made in half double crochet stitches, two rows of each color. I did this so that I could carry the colors up the side of the blanket rather than cutting and weaving after each row. The very gradual color change made it so that there wasn't an obvious color change within those two rows, which was an issue I ran into with some of the other yarns I tried. 

I made this a baby blanket size, and although you could make it larger it will affect the color changes in the rows and you may not get as smooth of a color change. Meaning the colors could start to change in the two row section, rather than staying pretty consistent throughout those two rows. I can only say how it will work in this size. 

This yarn comes in several colors and I think it would be a lot of fun to see how it worked up in different colors. Another thing that would be kind of fun would be to flip one of the colors so that you have dark of one color matched up with dark of the other color. 

How to Crochet the Gradient Stripes Baby Blanket

You will need:

• 2 cakes each of 2 colors Lion Brand Gradient yarn (sample made in Deep Teal and Purple) 
• I (5.5 mm) crochet hook
• yarn needle

Instructions:

The whole blanket is made using half double crochet stitches. There are a few different options to use for turning chains. You can choose your favorite method, or the method that gives you the best result. You can chain 2 and turn, counting that chain 2 as your first stitch, or not counting it as you first stitch and just using it as a turning chain and working into each stitch, or if you find that 2 turning chains is too much you can try 1 chain. I am writing the pattern with 2 turning chains because I feel like that is the most standard, but I personally do kind of a loose/long chain 1 most of the time because I prefer that. Then as far as counting the stitch or not I prefer to not count the turning chain, especially because you will be a dying a border to if it kind of bulges a little it isn't a big deal because it can be hidden with the border. 

Also, I did a 2 row color change so that the colors you easily be carried up the side because again, you can hide it when working the border by working over the carried yarn. That way you don't have to cut and weave in ends each time. 

The finished size of the blanket is 35" wide by about 38" long. 

Gradient Stripes Baby Blanket

Start with first color

ch 102
Row 1: hdc in third ch from hook, hdc in each ch to the end (100 hdc)
Row 2: ch 2, turn, hdc in each st (100 hdc)

switch to second color without cutting yarn from first color

Row 3: ch 2, turn, hdc in each st (100 hdc)

Row 4: ch 2, turn, hdc in each st (100 hdc)

Switch back to first color picking it back up from the end of row 2 and carrying it up the side 

Repeat the pattern switching colors every 2 rows until your blanket had 90 rows/45 stripes, or the size you want. You want to end with a stripe in the same color as your first stripe (odd number of stripes)

Begin working the border with the opposite color that you started and ended your blanket (My first and last rows were teal so I made my border with purple)

Border

Round 1: sc around the entire blanket working 1 sc in each st along the top and bottom, 3 sc in each corner, and working sc evenly along the side being sure to work over the yarn that you carried up the side to hide them (3 sc per stripe seemed to work well for me)

Round 2: ch 1, 1 sc in blo (back loop only) of each st working 3 sc in the corner sts (middle sc of previous 3 sc corner)

Round 3: ch 1, 1 sc in blo of each st working 3 sc in the corner sts 

Finish off and weave in ends